The importance of web design and development for your online presence

We know that having a business without a website isn’t feasible in our digital age, as it means you are sacrificing profitable opportunities due to your lack of customer reach. Without an active and inspiring online presence and website it’s likely your business will remain stationary, or eventually become a financial burden due to upkeep costs with little to no return.

Gone are the days of traditional marketing, where a billboard on the freeway would generate enough exposure to produce a decent profit margin for your company. We undoubtedly live in a digital age, where the World Wide Web has 3 billion active users. Despite how aesthetically pleasing the branding is of the product or service you’re offering if people can’t find you instantly on their smartphones you’re going to be left behind.

Now word-of-mouth is an effective strategy when your company is in its infancy. Hey, it may have even worked for your company for the last five years, but there’s no doubt without your own professional platform that customers can access 24/7/365 you are forfeiting multiple opportunities to capitalize on both local and international business prospects. Effectively, without an active and constantly accessible online presence, you will remain stagnant in the shadow of your competitors.

To optimize your business and keep a steady inclination of profit and exposure your website and online presence must be developed in a way that will keep current clients happy and potentials intrigued. Executing and maintaining a prosperous digital presence for your business consists of many intricate layers. It’s not only about having a well-designed website with quality content and imagery that portrays your company to users in the best way possible, but it’s also about being at the top of a search engine and providing potential customers with a call to action for your company over others. Continuous vigilance and market research are required to achieve this, as competitors will never cease to emerge.

Convenience for yourself and your customers

Customers gain insight on your products and services with direct access to your contact information around the clock. There’s no travel inconvenience involved for you or your clients as they can cherry-pick the information relevant to them from your website. While educating themselves on what you have to offer customers can also make comparisons with competitors, all from the comfort of their own home. Hence why it’s important you optimize your website and online presence in every way possible by personalizing it for your target market and offering testimonials, facts and visuals to strengthen your audience reach.

Rather than regurgitating the same information down the phone or in-person to copious amounts of potential customers, your website will encompass material that is sequenced in a way that resonates with the customer. A great website allows customers to gain all the knowledge they require within just a few minutes of browsing your site. Remember usability is optimal when time is not on your side and patience is thin.

Less expensive form of advertising

There are multiple, alternate platforms utilised to advertise businesses with the aim to generate more customers. This includes print media, television, and radio, but in comparison to a website and a well-established online presence, these forms are far more expensive and potentially far more ineffective for your profit margin. Website overheads are not costly in the grand scheme of advertising options and you’ll find your online presence and website will quickly become your most valuable tool. The only hurdle that may arise is if, due to your customers around the clock access, you may run out of stock or become overworked, and let us face it, things could be much worse.

Opportunity and credibility

It’s all about gaining customers trust with your website through well sequenced content, design, imagery and usability. They should be able to seamlessly navigate and explore everything you have to offer with a strategically placed call to action alongside credible material.Not only is your website an avenue for your customers, it’s the perfect place to welcome feedback so your company can continue to expand. Your website also serves as a platform for potential investors to explore, so be sure it indicates through both your website and other facets of your online presence, what your business is going to do in the future.

Fresh and timely

Keep one step ahead of your competitors by creating a blog page that remains active and informative for customers and investors. Keeping a continuous flow of fresh content will build your business prospects tenfold.

Access to info

Once your website has been established it becomes an extremely powerful tool that is a window to tracking how many people are visiting your site. This works as a great foundation to test the value of current marketing strategies while allowing you to make updates whenever a great idea springs to mind (without the costs of printing etc.). Also, allowing customers the added convenience of emailing you directly from your site is a beneficial call to action for your company to implement.

Web development and establishing an online presence is intricate and rather obscure if you don’t know the tricks of the trade. It can be extremely time consuming and hard to pinpoint what works and what doesn’t when you aren’t equipped with inside knowledge in both the computer and communication technology sectors. Don’t run yourself into the ground trying to do it all yourself, seek precise and professional help from Little Ripple Marketing and watch as your business continues to snowball.